Srinivas Rao obsesses over riding waves and turning it all into life lessons at The Skool of Life. He’s also the host and co-founder BlogcastFM, a podcast for bloggers

Two summers ago I was an MBA intern at Intuit’s Turbotax division and one of the department heads held an information session for new employees and interns. In that session I decided asked her what the key was to climbing the corporate ladder fast. I also got to sit in on a session with the CMO and asked him the same question and the answers actually were quite surprising. At the time I didn’t really understand them, but today it all makes sense.  Almost everything I“m revealing below is something I didn’t do in my first, second or third job for that matter. It took graduating from business school and 8 months of unemployment to finally understand what everybody had been telling me all along.

Focus on Today: Presence is something that I’ve become extremely committed to at this point in my life. If you are present then you are going to be at the top of your game. If your head is in the future, then you’re unlikely to do your best work today. Doing your best work today will ultimately lead to a far more successful long term career.

Don’t Worry About Your Promotion: When I spoke with current CMO of Intuit, he told me that during his time in at Proctor and Gamble in the early part of his career he spent 2 years longer in a role than he expected to. In those final 2 years he was able to witness 2 additional business cycles and enhance his knowledge significantly. Not getting that promotion early in his career actually ended up making him a much more effective leader today.

Challenge The Status Quo: This is something that some organizations won’t encourage and I personally am not a supporter of a kind of organization that doesn’t embrace people challenging the status quo. In fact if you find that you might be in an organization that doesn’t embrace this mind set, then I suggest you look for a different job. The truth is fitting in will just make you a cog in the machine and ultimately not lead to long term success. Go to the kind of organization that will value your contribution and enable you to make a difference.

Don’t be a Paycheck Player: I wrote about this extensively on Nicole Crimaldi’s blog. If you’re playing for a paycheck, you’re going to find that you will be very unfulfilled in your job and eventually it will lead to your downfall. Chose to do work that is meaningful, rewarding,  and fulfilling, and the paycheck will eventually take care of itself. It might sound counter-intuitive, but anybody who has been around for quite some time will tell you this absolutely true.

Align Yourself with High Value Players: Earlier in my career I worked at a company that got acquired by Microsoft two weeks after I left the company. I thought that was one of the biggest mistakes of my career. When I asked a coworker at that company about the acquisition he mentioned that most people who I had been friends with actually didn’t make the cut and got laid off as part of the acquisition. While these were some very intelligent people, they weren’t seen as positive influences and by association, it’s likely I wouldn’t have made the cut. Who you align yourself with can make a big difference in how you are perceived. But, be genuine about doing this or you will seem like a political player who won’t be looked up on kindly.

Be a Linchpin: At some point you’re going to have to start doing things outside of your job description. You’re going to have to do the kinds of things that only you could do and that can’t be replicated by somebody else. Essentially, you need to be a linchpin. Here’s some thoughts on how you can be a linchpin

• Enhance Your Resume Outside of Work
• Join and Take Leadership Roles in Industry Associations
• Start a Blog about Your Industry and Connect with Leaders
• Build an invaluable network of contacts that you can take with you anywhere you go 
• Organize an Unconference and Connect Like Minded Invididuals

The power to make a tremendous impact is in your hands. It’s up to you to embrace it. If you have other suggestions, I’d love to see them in the comments.

This is a guest post from Eric Leist, a Public Relations major in Boston University’s class of 2010. Eric blogs over at Meghan Biro’s firm Talent Culture and on his own blog, EricLeist.com.  You can also find him on Twitter @EricLeist.

See this box? Get in it. It might be a little cramped in there. Oh, and there’re thousands of other people in the box too. But don’t worry. There’s room for you. Go ahead. Squeeze in. You want a job, don’t you? You want a strong personal brand? Then just get in the box.

That’s what I hear whenever I attend a resume workshop. And let me tell you, as a college student, I’ve attended a lot of them.

The fundamental issue I have with resume workshops is that they assume everyone is the same.  Then, they suggest different methods based on the workshop leader’s personal preferences. That leads me to believe that hiring professionals all have different personal preferences too! This conundrum leads me to one conclusion: There is no way to write a resume that fits everyone’s likes and dislikes.

So whose preferences should your resume reflect? The jobseeker’s. Too often, job hunters fall into the trap of squeezing their experience into a standard format. As a result, everyone ends up looking the same.

I’ve seen great paper resumes that use color, cool video resumes, and smart narrative slideshow resumes. They all work for the individuals they represent.

Resumes don’t have to be any particular style. I’m not suggesting anything too crazy, but I think resumes have basic requirements rather than mandatory formats.

1) A resume should be easy to follow with a logical organization.

2) It should reflect personality and experience.

3) It should have a consistent, unified look and feel.

Sure there are ways to stand out with standard resume templates. Sure the standard templates work for most people—that’s how they became standard. But in this economy, a jobseeker’s goal is to give potential employers a reason to set his or her resume aside from the towering pile of others. They might want to think about breaking out of the box to achieve that goal.

PHOTO: http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldofoddy/1439796614/

Let Eric know what you think about his guest post!  Have you had the same experiences at resume work shops?

This is a guest post from Scott Hale.  Scott blogs over at Highway to Hale, a blog about community building and creative problem solving.  You can find Scott on Twitter @sjhalestorm and catch him as a Co-Moderator of the popular Twitter chat, #u30pro.

Alluring Possibilities in Muddy Waters

Let me start with my story. It’s no secret that my graduating class of 2009 was entering a piss-poor job market. After a summer of job searching, my refusal to send out a blanket of standard resumes was starting to pay off. I was seeing some interest.

One option was a startup agency. I hadn’t considered working for a startup straight out of college, but I came into contact with a new company that was looking to grow quickly. They were very honest that they wanted to make me their first hired employee and hit the ground running with some help from investors.

To make a long story short, the company offered me a salary and benefits and I accepted. But things are rarely set in stone with startup companies. After six months, full-time is a distant dream and benefits haven’t even entered the atmosphere of thought. In other words, they jumped the gun by making an offer.

Silver Lining in Stormy Clouds

I know it doesn’t sound like a dreamy situation, but there are some serious perks to working in a startup.

• Experience: Working with a startup is as close as it gets to a baptism by fire, because experience flies at you fast. I’ve been forced to learn new skills and broaden my professional repertoire (which is awesome). With so few people on a team, you aren’t likely to have an expert on every project. It’s an opportunity and a necessity to become an expert, or at least a jack-of-all-trades.
  • You’re also going to need to dedicate a chunk of your personal time to learn these new skills that won’t be asked, but demanded of you.
• Networking: It takes some time for a startup to get some traction, and during that time, employees often have the opportunity to build their personal network and focus on their personal community. As personal brands for employees grow, the company’s visibility can tag along.
  • Not to be a pessimist, but if the startup doesn’t work out, your personal network is a great way to get back into a heavy job search.
• Options: As noted above, I don’t always have a ton of work to do with the startup – My free time has allowed me to work with some incredible people in my industry. I’m like a Social Media Mercenary of sorts. I’m learning more than I could ask for and picking up some extra income at the same time (big thanks to everybody that has taken me in).
  • Make sure you clear this up with your employers before you go out and get projects with outside employers.

A final note about startups as a thank you and shout-out to Rich for having me as a guest on COTJ: Hiring at a startup is unique. Without HR and recruiters involved, your network is more important than anywhere else. Creativity and connectivity are your ticket to trust and impressing the right people.

Startups aren’t the first places that come to mind during a job search, but they are definitely worth checking out. Just be careful and understand what you are getting into.

This is a guest post from Bill Boorman. Bill is an internationally recognized leader based in the UK with more than 27 years of industry experience. He is the Co-Founder of the #TRU Conferences, blogger at The Recruiting Unblog. and host of Ready For Liftoff, an international blog talk radio show. You can find Bill on Twitter @BillBoorman or on LinkedIn at http://uk.linkedin.com/in/billboorman

When someone guest blogs for me, I expect Corn On The Job to receive something unique, or at least a post that I wouldn’t have thought of.  In his guest video blog,  Bill has created a genius post that is exactly what I hope for from a guest.  The video points out various ways a candidate can get the most from their recruiter and also explains what recruiters expect from candidates.  In most unique fashion, Bill has made this video without once being in front of the camera himself.  Check out the below genius from Bill, and stop by for some comments after.

First off, I’d like to thank Bill for calling me Mr. Corns.  Every time I’m referenced as Corn, Corns, or Mr. Corns in the video I get a nice laugh out of it.  Brilliant.

So, besides learning that my cousin has blue hair and is the worst candidate ever, what else have we learned?  Here are a few of my comments:

• Always. Be. On. Time.
• Send resume before meeting your recruiter, and also bring a clean copy or two with you (Bill – how did you know I <3 peanut butter?)
• Recruiters can’t help if you don’t know what you would like to do.
• Clean up your Facebook profile
• Identify a salary that will work for you.  This is important.
• You probably won’t be working as an assistant for Steve Jobs.  Don’t ask for ridiculous shit.

Those are a few of my comments – what did you get out of this post?

Had a chance to write a guest post for Srinivas Rao from The Skool of Life.  He also runs a podcast series called, “The Interviews with up and coming Bloggers”, which I took part in as well.  Srini is doing some great things over there, and I suggest checking him out when you have some time.

Here’s a link to my guest post – Why interviewing should never be ‘life or death’

The post brings an important message in how to deal/react with rejection.  It’s clearly talking about interview rejection, but I feel this lesson can be applied to all areas of your life. Here are some reasons to read my guest post:

• You’ll hear my personal story of rejection
• Why you should never get too excited for a company you are interviewing with
• How to look on the bright side of rejection
• Why you shouldn’t make interviewing a ‘life or death’ situation

Feel free to leave your comments here or on the post – Why interviewing should never be ‘life or death’

Also – when you have some time feel free to check out my interview with Srinivas

This is a guest post from William Tincup.  William is a Virgo if you’re wondering, but more importantly he’s a Marketing Badass and co-founder of Starr Tincup.  I’ve underlined badass because the dude is just plain raw.  Starr Tincup aims to forcefully bring innovation into Human Capital Marketing, and if you haven’t been to their website yet I suggest doing so ASAP.  The website is edgy and hilarious, yet proves they are a force to be reckoned with. Connect with William on Twitter, be his buddy on Facebook, do a Linkedin dance with him, and check out Starr Tincup.

If you are a college student or recent graduate, here’s what you are up against. I’ve been hiring people for over 20 years now, so I can size up a candidate during an in-person interview in about three minutes or less. The hard part is weeding through the lying and desperate candidates to find decent folks to interview. When reviewing resumes, I tend to look for three things – leadership, passion and risk taking. If a candidate doesn’t have any of these – shred, shred, shred – no interview.  If they have one or more, they at least get a second look.  That’s my process, but everyone that hires has a unique way to filter resumes.

Intimidated? You shouldn’t be, but you should get your shit together. Consider these 20 tips when applying to marketing, advertising or PR jobs:

(Quick editorial note – William wrote this for marketing, advertising, and PR peeps, but his advice is helpful to all 20 somethings – seriously)

1. Dump your GPA. Other than your mom and dad, no one gives a damn. Delete.

2. One-page resumes rock. Two-page resumes are for folks who can’t edit themselves. And people who ramble suck.

3. “Objective” on a resume is a deal killer.  Put that content in a thoughtful cover letter and customize it for the interviewer, their firm and the position you are applying for. The key here is personalization.

4. High school is over. Once you have made it to your sophomore year in college, strike any mention of anything you did in high school. No one cares that you played Macbeth your sophomore year.

5. Streamline academic filler.  After you have made it to your final semester in college, delete all academic filler content like classes you attended, your very important VP position within your sorority, etc. The only thing that matters at that point is your graduation date, degree and school name. Get it down to 2 – 3 lines of content.

6. Build a creative brand for yourself. Think about it – if you are seriously thinking about a career in the creative world of marketing and your resume looks like someone that just visited the state-run employment agency, should you really get that interview? No.

7. Be yourself.  Just be genuine – online, in your phone conversations, on paper, during the interview. Most people make the mistake of trying to be people that they aren’t. The risk, of course, is that you will be found out as a complete fraud.

8. Play to your strengths. Apply to jobs where you have a fighting chance of being successful. If you are a terrible writer, then don’t apply to a gig where writing is going to be 70% of the job. No one wins in that scenario.

9. Do your homework. When you interview, research the person interviewing you, the firm and the role. Come prepared with questions. Show up early to the interview – 10 minutes is the norm – any earlier than that and it creates pain for the organization. Outdress everyone in the office. It doesn’t matter what corporate culture they have – dress nicely. And remember to smile.

10. Quality is job one. Focus your job search on quality matches NOT quantity. Does anyone think that applying to 100 jobs a day really works? Of course it doesn’t. Only desperate people apply scattershot.

11. Smart candidates send thank you notes. That includes both in email form as well as the old fashioned ones.

12. If you are still in college, intern early and often. Candidates that have intern experience on their resume far outperform those that don’t.

13. Practice interviewing. I know, I know – sounds retarded but trust me… practice answering the basic HR “where do you see yourself in five years” question.  Imagine you saying “such as, Iraqs globals…” – that’s you if you don’t practice answering questions.

14. Be yourself 2.0. Here’s the thing: if you don’t think recruiters and/or hiring managers look you up via social media before they schedule your interview, then I can’t know you because you are retarded. Of course they do. They won’t admit to it, but they scour Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google to find out shit about you. So, here’s the rub… you recently became a fan of the “Make Bongwater Cologne” group in Facebook. No value judgment here. It is what it is. People are going to know all about you.

15. Glassdoor. Google the company before you interview. Spend hours stalking any firm that you interview with.

16. An “interview” is a two-way street. Tough concept, but you are interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you.

17. Be nice. If someone offers you a cup of water during your interview, take them up on it. In fact, I prefer candidates that ask for water before the interview starts.

18. Don’t say anything negative about a former employer, boss or mentor. Classless act. Platitudes are the way to go.

19. Practice the drive to the interview. Get to know the local environment, and act like you’ve been there. Cuts down on the deer-in-the-headlights syndrome.

20. Be confident. If you’re desperate for a job, stop interviewing. Desperate people suck, and interviewers are skilled at rooting out lame people. Practice a solid handshake and maintain eye contact during the interview.

Wanted to let you Corn Heads know that a guest post of mine is featured today on Rehaul.  Lance Haun, creator of Rehaul, is consistently ranked a top HR blogger.  I was lucky enough to connect with Lance in the very earliest of my blogging days, and found that not only is Lance an amazing writer, he’s also an all-around great guy.  I suggest checking out Rehaul if you are an HR professional, recruiter, job seeker, or just looking for a great read.

I recently passed the PHR exam, which means that I’m a certified Human Resources bad ass.  While I’m happy to have the certification, I question it’s importance to HR professionals, and why HR folks should look to get certified.   Click here to read this post, and please leave your comments.

How has becoming certified helped you in your career?

A couple weeks ago I was approached by Jessica Miller-Merrell to write up a guest post for her blog, Blogging4Jobs.com.  I urge you to check out all of the great stuff over there, but today I ask you to stop by and check out my featured post.  

The post is titled “They’re Just Not That Into You” and is inspired by one of, if not the biggest chick flick movie from 2009.  Along with an incredibly embarrassing confession, here are some other reasons to read:

• Again I compare the similarities between dating and interviewing
• This post features a list of dead-on give-a-ways that will make it clear the company is just not that into you
• My pep talk for rejected job seekers
• Did I mention there is an embarrassing confession in the post?  I guess by now, you can already guess what it is!

Click here to check my featured post on Blogging4Jobs.com

Have you ever missed the signs?  Interested in your thoughts so please do leave a comment!